This is a four chapter piece about the year since the 2016 American election that has changed everything, from the upset win to the current political climate Americans face today.
Chapter Three:
Green:
The Hopeless Option
The 2016 election was the best opportunity for a third-party candidate to rise from the ashes and try to mess up the race and finally get some recognition. But how can you even compete in an election if nobody respects you? How can you debate against the other major candidates if you aren’t invited? How can you spread your message if you don’t have the money? Third-party candidates should use unconventional methods to compete, and it didn’t happen. Bernie Sanders knows his chances while lingering with the green party was quite slim, which is why he joined and unexpectedly crippled the Democratic Party. Nonetheless, there are some great ideas that came from his campaign that could help a presidential candidate that isn’t associated with Blue or Red.
For starters, Bernie Sanders did not accept massive donations from any company or large American presence. The money he raised felt legit, it felt like it came from interested people as opposed to people with specific interests. Second off, his fans did the homework, research, and were spreading the word through social media better than the Trumpsters and the Hillary Crew. Social media can be your most powerful asset to spreading your message, and social media is far less expensive than having to tour the country and make multiple stops to talk to people. You might be missing the personal touch, but as a third-party your options are limited and you have to space the cash out enough to be able to compete in debates and compete against the Red/Blue combo when election season is in full swing. Election season is more expensive than ever, so you need to be money-savvy otherwise you’ll run out of cash before you can build momentum.
Imagine building a YouTube and Instagram page of your political campaign, where you continuously update your progress and constantly discuss the issues that most pertain to you. Bernie Sanders has a podcast, and it’s one of the most successful in ITunes. Imagine building an official Facebook page about your party, and allowing everyone to join in and establish a community. The independent movement is rising exponentially, and has been for a long time, ultimately being a bigger force than the Democrats or the Republicans. The issue is, they wind up picking one of the two, knowing that a third-party vote is a waste. In order for third-party candidates to have a chance, they have to bridge this gap between supporting wild card candidate and actually winning a state, let alone an election.
It is going to take multiple elections, and will require people other than what we already have like Jill Stein and Gary Johnson (who both even with the odds fumbled several times in their campaigns) to achieve the opportunity to break the Red/Blue streak that has been going on since the 1860s. Bernie Sanders could have been that combo breaker, but at the time didn’t want to risk Trump winning the election so he sent his support to Hillary to ensure a smooth transition (Plot Twist: Didn’t happen). We don’t know where this new voice will come from, but new voices are definitely needed to fix many of the issues plaguing this country and plaguing the current political arena.
To Be Continued:
The Final Chapter.....
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